http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Shandong , Qingdao en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:26:40 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:26:40 +0000 Another foggy day in Qingdao. I really need to look up what they did when the sailing was here at the Olympics the cloudsmog cover is so thick that I find it very difficult to believe anyone would have been able to see anything.... I think I am getting a cold today not good times. Of course it might just be delayed jet lag but I'm dosing up to try and fight whatever it is off. I'm flying bac http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-451662.html What a whirlwind couple of days. I got a call on Thursday to say that my aunt and uncle were visiting my other uncle in Qingdao so booked a same day flight to visit. Sadru mama lives in Qingdao but is going on holiday on Sunday so I really had to get my skates on. I was worried about the flight becuase I seem to rememberthe domestic flights being a little bit bumpy last time I was here but it was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-451284.html Sunday 26th July 2009 train to QingdaoWe boarded the train to Qingdao at 7.30am its always a surprise what kind of train you end up on and in what seats even where it is going in China since you just go up to the counter with a sheet of paper and hope that whoever wrote it for you isnrsquot ripping the piss and sending you on a hard sleeper to Mongolia. Because if they ask you any questions al http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-430701.html L'artifice europenEn dbarquant a Qingdao apres plusieurs semaines passes en Asie le voyageur occidental que je suis est quelque peu drout. L'architecture de la vieille ville se fait coloniale les glises remplacent les temples et la biere supplante le th sur les terrasses. Pour un peu je pourrais croire que j'ai boucl le grand tour et que je suis de retour quelque part en Europe n'tait http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-426901.html QingdaoTsingTaoOur first stop is Qingdao 3873823707 3873823798 Q299ngD462o TsingTao easily one of the most beautiful cities we have seen in China. Old town has a strong European influence from the Germans hence the beer and it reminds us both of southern California around the Laguna Beach area or even a little like Carmel by the Sea as the multitude of beaches are litt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-422444.html It's 11pm and I have just arrived at the Qingdao Train Station. That's pronounced chingdow. All is good as far as the train trip went. I slept most of the way in the first class carriage with only about 6 people in it. But as is my luck I get someone behind me who likes to kick the back of my chair. And I can't move to another seat as the porters like you to stay where your ticket says to.So I e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-419244.html Blog 8 July 7th 14th Shanghai Qingdao and on being a victim of crime.Well dear readers...where have we got to I left you in an internet cafe in Shanghai...so from there I will pick up my story. Tuesday 7th I cooked a meal for the 4 of us to say thanks for letting me stay at your flat. As I only had a 2 burner gas stove the inside of a rice cooker and the smallest frying and saucepan in the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-418491.html http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-417491.html This weekend was the bestI went traveling with my room mate Demi and two other guys from our program Sam and Sheldon. They were really great Every one was so laid back and down to earth it was a huge relief.Our first stop was Taishan mountain in Shandong province. As the legend goes in ancient times there lived a man who kept growing and growing and growing. Eventually after some thousa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-415797.html We boarded our space ship like bullet train from Beijing to Qingdao complete with blood stains on front from an unsuspecting railway crossing mammal of some description. If we were to take the Lonely Planet literally which we did we would have expected a quaint little seaside retreat which has been described as 'China's Switerzland'.We had pictured Qingdao a former German settlement as a l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-415387.html It's 11pm and I have just arrived at the Qingdao Train Station. That's pronounced chingdow. All is good as far as the train trip went. I slept most of the way in the first class carriage with only about 6 people in it. But as is my luck I get someone behind me who likes to kick the back of my chair. And I can't move to another seat as the porters like you to stay where your ticket says to.So I e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-404707.html After a Chinese version of an English breakfast in the hostel the next morning I met up with three other people in the hostel a Polish Cameroonian and German respectively. Together we walked down to the shore to catch a bus that would take us to Lao Shan. This took us to a beach at the entrance to the park. From there we walked past the 50 Yuan entrance gate and just followed the road that goes http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-367978.html After a short wait of 1 12 hours at Beijing capital airport I flew into Qingdao late morning. Took the airport bus into town and checked into the hostel after which I set out on a walk. Although not as cold as Hohhot 0 degrees is still quite nippy and with the amount of sleep I had on New Year's eve I didn't quite manage to do a marathon. Immediately noticed though how Qingdao really resembles http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-364344.html Itrsquos Christmas morning and Irsquom lounging in bed considering my day. I have Christmas shopping to do a temple or other tourist sight to see and travel arrangements to make. Irsquom thinking about these things but Irsquom not moving much. My room is so cold I donrsquot want to get out from under my blankets. Temperatures outside are below freezing and I can hear the wind blowi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-357185.html ...Slow Boat to China... When I was a child I remember my sister and I decided to find out if we dug far enough whether we could get to China on the other side of the world. We gave up after digging a hole about a foot deep and decided China was too far away. Now Irsquom too far away to go home for Christmas and so I thought Irsquod give China another try.Being that Irsquom already in Kore http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-356913.html We were at the lab part of the day just working on a manuscript for another graduate student but that stuff really isnrsquot the good stuff. It was everything else that is more fun. We left for Qingdoa today which is the hometown of the professor Irsquom working with here in China. Qingdao is along the Pacific Ocean and is also where the sailing portion of the Olympics was held. There we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-350941.html Ik wist het zeker het zijn de Indiers. Dat inzicht kwam pas na enkele weken in India. Daarvoor was ik er heilig van overtuigd dat het een gelijkspel was tussen de Israeliers en de Russen deze strijd om de titel 'meest verschrikkelijke toeristen'. De Israeliers doen wat dat betreft hun best al zijn enkele kanttekeningen op hun plaats zo betreft het eigenlijk alleen de begin twintigers die zovee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-346479.html I decided to escape Tianjin for a weekend about halfway through our stay to checkout the annual Qingdao International Beer Festival located in Qingdao China. After arriving at the train station my friend Ben and I walked down to the beach and had a look at the surrounding area. After that we headed up through the lsquoold townrsquo to find our hostel. The German influence on the town wa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-341134.html Diving in Qingdao To be frank the weather in Qingdao is not very good for surfingat least itrsquos not an ideal pleace to surf.This year the Olympic regatta games have almost canceledbecause the wind is not strong enough to hold sailing games at allHowever the wind suddenly become strong just 2 days before the regatta games begun.Well I do not have good luck like th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-335733.html Day 197 on the road I am back in China and it feels great There are two reasons for coming back here 1 I want to do a crazy plank walk on the south peak of Hua Shan a mountain close to the city of Xi'an and 2 as I want to avoid flying as much as possible on my trip and my next stop is Vietnam going through China from Korea is the only way to get there really.So I arrived in China in the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-334203.html